Last 6 Months
by raspberry rose romance
Summary: Ask a person, "What would you do if you had only 6 months left to live?" What they answer says quite a lot about who they are. Lily has always wondered and her answer has always been different. But at the most recent and mature point in her life, she just wants to fill the world with love and kindness. Cliche Hogwarts love story, you guys! It'll be lots of fun and very deep. Enjoy!
1. Preface

**Hey Hi Ho.**

**I'm writing a Harry Potter story. It's going to take place during the Marauder's era. The main couple will be Lily/James (they are, admittedly, my Harry Potter otp.) I've been wanting to write a cliche Hogwarts Lily James story for years, so I'm finally going to do it. Wish me luck c: the idea was sprouted in my head by the author doctorwhoharrypotter55. Enjoy c:**

* * *

If you had 6 months left to live what would you do? This was a question Lily Evans pondered about her whole life. At various points it had been different things. Her mother, Rose Evans, had asked her and her sister that very question one rainy day.

_It was November in Cokeworth, the hometown of the Evans family. It was cold and rainy, a typical day in late fall. Lily and her sister had spent the day __playing _in the rain, jumping in puddles and making mud angels. Petunia would say she didn't like to go out in the rain "We always get all dirty when we play your games." In the end, however, the golden haired girl would give in.

_The sisters returned to the house, only to be stopped by their fiery haired mother before they could step on the porch. "Hose off and clothes off.", was the rule. The young girls stripped down to their underwear and cleaned themselves with the garden hose before returning to their porch. Rose was waiting with towels, fluffy pajamas and hot chocolate. The sisters screamed with delight when they saw the treat. "Hold on just a moment, you two, we're going to have a talk." They were scared. A talk? That didn't sound good. Soon enough, the sisters were warm in their fuzzy pj's and sipping their hot chocolate with marshmallows. Despite their worries about "the talk" they were thoroughly pleased. Who wouldn't want fuzzy pajamas and hot chocolate? "My daughters", Rose had said, "I have a question for you." Two earnest eyes looked up at their mother. "If you had but 6 months to live, what would you do? What would you achieve? Would you die happy?" _

_The children were too young to fully understand the question. They let out cries of "I don't wanna die!", but their mother had done what she intended. The question would stick with them for the rest of their lives._

Back then, Lily had childish things she thought of doing. Trying every type of candy was one of the silliest ones. But as she stood with her Hogwarts letter in one hand and her head girl badge in the other, she had decided. She wanted to make a difference in the world. The grim situation in the wizarding world was troubling, and she was going to do everything in her power to help it. Somehow, when she was put in the highest position of responsibility, she realized that._ "This whole war was started because of hate."_, she thought to herself, _"in my last 6 months I will do everything I can to fill it with love"_


	2. The train ride

**Hey Hi Ho... I'm a huge Harry Potter theorist so for those of you who are as ultimately nerdy as me, you'll be seeing my theories in this story. By the way, don't hate me, but to stay true to my theories James' parents will not like the idea of James dating a muggle-born witch. **

* * *

It was September 1st again, which meant time to depart from her home in the muggle world. Lily loved Hogwarts, but as of late, the muggle born witches, like herself, were receiving slander and hate from some of the more "elite" members of the wizarding world. All Lily could think of was how racist the entire situation was. History was repeating itself, as it always does. She felt helpless at times, but Lily was angry at herself for even feeling that way. She wasn't helpless, not at all. She was entrusted with responsibility and she had to act with it.

Instead of arriving at 9 and ¾ with her sister, Lily had apparated to Kings Cross Station. Her mother had passed on towards the end of her 6th year. Lily had left Hogwarts several weeks early to be with her mother after she had gotten the news of the stroke. With the internal bleeding, Rose didn't make it, marking Lily as an orphan. One hellish summer with her sister was enough incentive to get out of her, once happy, childhood home first chance she got.

The redhead was greeted by her friend, Lynn, only seconds after she had arrived. "Lils!" the excited Ravenclaw exclaimed. "We all missed you at the end of year feast. How's your mom?" Lily's small but strained smile said what she didn't want to. Her friend nodded understandingly and wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulder. "How are you coping?"

"I'm perfectly fine. I had the summer to grieve and now I'm ready to have a great last year!"

"Fantastic! Sounds good to me." Lynn beamed at Lily as the pair lugged their oversized trunks on the train, followed by their pet's cages. Lynn had an owl named Fluffs, who the both of them used to send their mail. Lily's cat, Matilda, was not as useful.

Several minutes later, the pair were seated in a compartment that was empty at the time. Matilda was snoozing out of her cage on the floor between Lynn and Lily. "I'm going to have to leave you for a bit, prefect meeting, I'm sure Mary and Reagan will find their way here soon enough. Why do you prefer us Gryffindors anyway?" Lily asked with a teasing smile.

"You know Ravenclaws, they all have giant egos and massive superiority complexes. Gryffindors are humble and chivalrous. You can't blame me for wanting their company"

"Of course. How could I? Not all of us are humble, you know... God knows plenty of us have terrible manners."

Lynn smirked at what Lily was implying. She knew the redhead was speaking of a specific group of Gryffindors with her not so kind words.

* * *

After spending too long chatting with Lynn, Lily was the last to arrive at the first prefect meeting of the year. She was a bit embarrassed, but she quickly became uneasy. James Potter was leaning back against a wall at the end of the room. She knew he was going to be head boy, Dumbledore had given her advanced notice, but she wasn't pleased about it. He was never even a prefect. The other prefects had clearly been waiting for their head girl to arrive, everyone seemed put off by James' unlikely presence. In her mind, she reminded herself of her promise to herself and her promise to her mother. Be loving.

_Lily was seated at the side of her mother's hospital bed. The stroke had left her paralyzed, but she was still able to speak. The only problem was Rose sometimes mixed words up. At this point, everyone knew she wasn't going to make it, so Lily and Petunia had put aside their differences and spent every last minute with their mother._

_In a moment of clarity, Rose said to Lily, "My hope for you, Lily, is that you will achieve something big. I know you can do it. I hope you'll be happy and cared for. And, I hope, more than anything else, that you will choose love. How could I hope for anything else?"_

_Confused, Lily nodded to her mom. "Of course, mother. I promise" After this, Rose had drifted back to sleep due to her sedatives and Petunia looked green with envy. Lily just stared at her helplessly. The redhead didn't want to apologize, the precious moment she had spent with her mother could be the last one, so she told her sister. "Mother wants the same for you, of course."_

"Let's get started." Lily announced once she had seated herself. All the prefects who had been lounging around seated themselves around the table in the heads compartment as well. James silently took a seat next to Lily. For once, he was okay with not being in control. He didn't know how these meetings worked, after all. Lily, however, had been planning since she got her letter.

"I have here a 2 slips of paper, one of them is the Slytherin password and one is the Gryffindor password. To the other houses, you of course know how to get into your dorms." Lily handed her house's password to James and the Slytherin one to a 7th year prefect.

"I've set up a schedule for rounds. Due to conflict between houses, I haven't selected any special pairs. You'll all be performing rounds duties with your counterpart. For example, Edmund", Lily addressed Hufflepuffs 7th year prefect, "You'll be patrolling with Alice." the other 7th year prefect for Hufflepuff. Lily had the schedule memorized so she told each group their days and times for rounds. They were responsible for remembering. "And James." Lily finished, struggling to be civil, "We'll be patrolling Mondays and Saturdays from midnight to 5am. Everyone got that."

Lily went on to explain the responsibilities that came along with giving and taking points and assigning detentions. "If I find any of you abusing this power, you'll be reporting directly to the headmaster." With those words she gave the password to the for the prefects bathroom and dismissed the meeting.

Everyone started to file out, but James cornered the object of his affections. He had been silent the entire meeting, so Lily had sort of forgotten that he was there. "I love it when you get all controlling like that.", he teased.

"Not now, Potter." she replied briefly, "I want to get back to my friends. And please, I want to have a good year."

"What?" he asked feigning innocence, "I was just going to say you'll make a great head girl, very controlling. I like it." he smirked again.

Not seeing any malice in his comment, she quickly said, "Thank you. And if you stay quiet and listen to me you'll make a great head boy."

James grinned. "Can do, Miss"

Although she was pleased he seemed okay with the idea of her being in charge, Lily was still wary of him. "I'm not going to stand around and let you hex first years just for the fun of it, you know. I don't care if you're head boy, I'll give you detention. Hell, I'll even dock house points. I know it's my house but..."

"Yeah, yeah okay Evans I get the picture." he retorted.

"Alright." she decided and with that she left. After taking a few steps she realized James was still trailing behind her. "Yes?" she asked. Maybe a bit rudely.

"Let's sit together," he stated

"I'd rather not. I'm sitting with my friends." she answered

"Well then let's sit with your friends."

"No, James, you go sit with your little gang."

"My gang can sit with your gang. We can form an alliance." Despite the fact that he was dead set on irritating her, she couldn't stop the amused smile that flashed across her face.

"I don't think my gang and your gang could agree on the same terms. It would be madness." Lily was starting to get annoyed.

"I think we could figure something out."

"No." she answered sharply, "We really couldn't."

Lily entered the room she had previously been sitting, James still behind her, only to be brushed aside by an enthusiastic Sirius. "How was your first day in power, mate?"

"Thrilling," James replied

At the same time, Lily turned to Reagan. "Why are the Marauders in our compartment?"

Reagan laughed at the look on Lily's face. "I invited them in! Thought they'd make for some good entertainment." Lily was not pleased. "Look.", Reagan said pointing to Remus. Or actually pointing to Remus' lap. "Matilda like him." Sure enough, the orange tabby was sleeping in Remus' lap.

"Did everyone betray me?" she asked, partially joking, partially upset. She looked at Matilda and became enraged. "Give me my cat!", she exclaimed snatching the small tabby away from Remus. She cradled Matilda in her arms and stated, "He's the only one who loves me, don't you sweetie."

Everyone was laughing and completely overlooking or not seeing that Lily was upset. When the laughter died down, Mary asked, "How's was your summer?"

This pushed Lily to her limit, "Petunia was lovely as ever." she snapped. Mary looked put off but Lily continued, "She's taken to inviting her walrus of a boyfriend over. He's just fascinating company, really. Goes on and on about his money and his car and his boring job. I had a great summer, can't you imagine? Just peachy." Mary looked like she was about to cry. She was a great friend, but much too sensitive.

"Lils. Don't worry about the horse. You've got the entire year to enjoy. Just imagine, you never have to see her again."

"No, no, no it's not that. Of course I want to see her again. I'm just complaining, that's all."


	3. train ride con't

**Hey Hi Ho. Chapter 2 you guys! My most lovely and beautiful and favorite reviewer, NO, has convinced me to continue writing the train scene so you all need to thank her. Enjoy c:**

* * *

A train ride with the Marauders would never go smoothly. In this situation, however, they were not to blame for any drama. Uncharacteristically, they had sat silently and watched the scene unfold.

_"Lils, she treats you terribly. Why do you even put up with her?" Lynn asked._

_"You should distance yourself from poisonous relationships," Reagan added at the same time._

_"You deserve to be happy, Lily. Really, you better stay away from her." Mary chimed in afterwards._

_The entire situation was becoming too overwhelming for Lily. "Stop it! All of you stop it! You don't understand."_

_"What is there to understand? She's pure evil. Merlin, Lils, sometimes you're really hard to be friends with. You need to think of yourself more highly. And the mood swings have got to stop. Seriously, you're a bit of a drama queen..." Mary was not getting the whole compassion thing._

_It was all too much, Lily stood up and left the train compartment without a word._

_When the door slammed closed behind the upset redhead, Mary glanced around the room, "See what I mean?"_

_"Mary," Lynn started, "maybe a better approach would have been letting the topic go. Lily clearly didn't want to talk about it."_

_The Marauders had stayed frighteningly quiet throughout the entire argument. They had learned a bit more about Lily than they had intended. Remus looked concerned while Sirius seemed to be agreeing with Mary on the topic. Peter looked scared by the whole ordeal._

_"I'll go talk to her." James stated while standing up._

_"Wait, no. That''s not a good idea. She needs to cool off." Reagan told him._

_Ignoring her, James walked out of the room._

Lily was leaning against a wall outside of the compartment she had recently been seated in. Her eyes were red, but she was refusing to cry. James approached her quietly and leaned against the wall, imitating her position. He stayed silent, and the pair stood there for several minutes.

"So who's Petunia?" James questioned.

Lily stayed silent for a minute, deciding if she should answer before saying, "My sister."

"What's so bad about Petunia? Your friends seem to hate her."

"We don't get along. We used to be the best of friends until I met Severus. He told me I was a witch and at that point we started growing apart. I suppose Tuney was jealous."

"Well why are you so dead set of defending her if you don't even have a good relationship?"

"You guys don't understand..." Lily repeated

"Well then tell me. Help me understand. I'm smarter than I look, you know." Lily smiled. The way he was implying that he was too good looking to be smart was a bit humorous.

"It's just... she's the only family I've got left. That means something to me. I'm not going to give up on her. She's a jerk, yes. But I love that jerk. Sometimes the people we love are bad to us."

"Ah." James said simply.

"Well come on, then." Lily teased poking James' side.

He jumped at the touch and glared at her, "Come on, what?"

"You need to tell me something personal now. You give some and you get some... that's how life works."

James looked at her oddly, "What do you want to know?" he questioned.

"Oh, I don't know... tell me about your family, I guess."

"Uhhh... my parents are elderly, Sirius and I think they don't have much time left. They keep getting sick. Just little things, but it's getting worse and worse. I thought about skipping my 7th year to take care of them but they talked me out of it."

"Wow, that's really selfless of you," Lily said, surprised.

"No it's not..." James replied.

"How so?"

"I care very much about them. I wouldn't have done it out of the goodness of my heart, it would have been selfishly motivated. Ergo, not selfless." For some reason James was refusing the compliment.

"Well say what you will, I think that shows much honor on your part. You're a true Gryffindor, you know." Lily decided, "When you're not too busy obsessing about how perfect you are..." she added as an afterthought.

James laughed briefly. "Let's go back inside the compartment." he told her.

"No," she decided, "I don't want to face them. Let's go to the heads compartment. No one's allowed there without our permission."

"Yeah, that actually sounds good."

* * *

The heads compartment was in the very back of the train, causing Lily and James to be the last to get off. They weren't exactly in a rush either, which contributed to the length of time it took them to exit the train. When they climbed out, Sirius was standing right by the door waiting for them even though most of the students were already on their way to the castle.

"And where in the world were you?", he questioned angrily, "We were really worried."

Before James could answer Lily said, "We were in the heads compartment, where else? What did you think? Dementors abducted us?"

"No biting, Lily." James stated in a completely serious tone of voice.

"Fine. Your best friend's an idiot though."

"Um, excuse me, genius, but we were all worried. I'm no more an idiot than Lynn! Who is, by the way, a Ravenclaw." Sirius was not pleased about being called an idiot.

"No, she's right, mate, you are an idiot."

"Oh, I see how this is. A bird smiled at you so now you're going to bully me."

Lily patted his head, which he, oddly enough, seemed to not mind, before saying, "Don't worry, the best of us are. It's part of human nature. But what did you think happened to us? Because, honestly, where else would we have been?"

"We thought you had been kidnapped or something. And I didn't think anything dirty, don't listen to what the other may say. Because when two people of the opposite sex disappear at the same time, nothing ungodly comes to mind."

"Oh God, Black, I hope you burn in hell." Lily didn't seem as upset as her comment was rash.

"Of course you do, Lilyflower. I'm really feeling the love here."

"Can't we just be normal?" James exclaimed. "I mean, come on guys, one normal conversation. That's all I'm asking of you."

Sirius seemed to accept the challenge. "Good evening, Lily. Beautiful night we're having."

"It does seem so, yes. How are you this fine evening?" Lily played along.

"Marvelous. Simply outstanding. What about you, lovely lady?"

"Quite well. Thank you for asking good sir."

"Is this what I get for being nice?", James questioned out loud. "That's it, I'm never being nice again. You two can forget about a nice Prongs. I'm going to be as mean as possible if you two will just stop."

"Uh, you guys. We better get in a carriage before they're all gone." Lily stated.

"Right. Of course! Carriage. You two are sitting on opposite ends."


End file.
